Need help with Port 3689

I (of course) have the same issue as the other posters - the dreaded 3689 message. We have two Apple TVs and two Windows computers (previously XP, now 7) that have worked reasonably well for the past couple of years, although I do have to say I've found the Apple TVs to be one of the buggiest hardware products I've had the misfortune to work with - especially grating since Apple is supposed to be "it just works". I'm not an IT guru, but I did install and maintain our office network with 10 computers under Windows Server, so I know my way around routers/firewalls/ports, etc.

Anyway, maybe my info will be of help to others. Both Apple TVs worked fine up until about three days ago. Now both Apple TVs give the 3689 message (started at the same time). This of course implies the problem is with Itunes or the router. There have been NO changes in the router and NO changes to Itunes (aside from updating to 8.2.1). I tried syncing both ATVS to the other computer and got the same message. Having a couple years under my belt with the Apple TVs, I have:

1) double-checked router firewall settings and disabled windows firewall. I even turned off my router firewall for a few minutes so the network was completely open, and still got the Port 3689 message - I have NO antivirus or other potential port-blocking programs running. I'm quite sure this is just a catch-all "hey I can't talk to the Apple TV" error and the Port 3689 message is misleading since it implies that's the only possible problem.

2) rebooted computer many times;

3) restored ATVs to factory settings and reinstalled all updates;

4) rebooted router many times;

5) disconnected and reconnected both ATVs many times;

6) completely cleared out Itunes and the library and reinstalled them from scratch - deleted the XML file containing library info and started from scratch.

The only other things I can think of are:

1) We both got Iphones and maybe trying to sync the Iphones to Itunes permanently confused Itunes, but I turned off both Iphones and disconnected them before reinstalling Itunes, so I don't think that's it.

2) I switched the HDMI cables on the two ATVs - dunno how this could cause anything, but a previous poster mentioned HDMI so thought I'd toss it out.

3) updated Itunes and ATVs to the latest update (most likely problem).

If I manage to find out what the issue is, I'll post back. But be aware that the 3689 message can mean many different problems, which is why people are saying how multiple different solutions worked for them. Don't automatically assume it's a port issue, although it's one possibility - could be almost anything, unfortunately.

Update - got a new router and the problem disappeared, so it was the router after all. I'd thought that was unlikely since I hadn't changed anything on the router and all other router features still worked fine, but figured I'd try it out.

I have had this Port 3689 issue for a month, after upgrading to aTV 2.4 and iTunes 8.2.1.6. I run Win XP Pro, use a D-Link wireless router to connect to home wireless network, and also connect via ethernet to a LAN. I have 62Gb of music, 3536B of movies, and 1Gb of photos that I choose from to sync to my aTV. It has worked beautifully for 18 months . . . until a month ago.

I had tried everything . . . rebooting the computer, rebooting the aTV, reseting our router, restoring factory settings, turning off my firewall, everything listed in these forums.

Then I read a post about a guy that simply unplugged his ethernet and it started working. So, I *disabled my LAN connection and disabled my network bridge*. Mysteriously, aTV has started syncing content again. I am not technical, so I cannot explain how or why. It just works.

I hope this helps someone because I've wasted so much time on this it makes me ill.

My solution is below - some preamble first for those despairing as I was!

I had exactly the same issue - purchased ATV yesterday to add to my iMac with Time Capsule WiFi network setup. ATV connected perfectly to the Web but I could not get it to sync with my iMac's iTunes library. I wanted to stream rather than sync but couldn't do either. Tried all previous suggestions - PRAM resets, Firewall to "Allow all incoming connections", router changes - all to no avail.

Console utility was reporting in its logs that my iMac was denying the ATV access.

I'm lucky enough to be friends and neighbours with an excellent network admin who deals with Macs as well as PCs but we still couldn't figure it (I'm an SQL DBA so know a little about networks too). He also has ATV and streams with no problem and had no installation or configuration issues.

We wirelessly connected my ATV to his iTunes library and it worked first time, streaming like a dream. This ruled out ATV as the issue and put my iMac completely in the frame; we still couldn't coax mine into accepting comms from ATV.

Finally tried the NoobProof freeware utility. I used it to specifically set port 3689 to "Allow" i.e. wipe out any existing settings and set the **** thing to "Allow". Bingo. Everything now works.

It could be something I've done over the past 18 months since I switched to block that port so I cannot point blame at the iMac or ATV.

Now it's working I have to say I think ATV is just superb, another quality product from Apple (I didn't think that way about 24 hours ago though!).

Take-away: if you're still getting the 3689 error then please try the NoobProof util (or something similar like WaterRoof) to at least rule out a genuine firewall rule is blocking the communication.

I hope this helps someone - when I was tearing my hair out I found plenty of reports of this problem but not too many suggestions. Please write how you get on and any success you have with this really frustrating problem. Best of luck.

Convinced it's an apple / PC thing. Unplugged the Ethernet port for 30 and back in - Back to operating, happens every few weeks. I have several of these setups and have never had a problem with a Mac to ATV setup only PC (any OS) to ATV - very frustrating and very disappointed at the lack of support for issues of such published by Apple. Point is it works for months then all of the sudden, should not have to reconfigure firewall settings or anything for that matter so don’t. Hope this helps…

I have this issue quite often after i upgraded to windows 7. I turned off the firewall and anything that could possible blocking a port. I actually went as far as to physically plug my apple tv to the router. Basically i get this messages about 25% of the time. My apple tv syncs sometimes but other times i get the message you refered to.

Clanders,

Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Support Forum located here http://tinyurl.com/9fhdl5 . It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to also check the threads available there for additional assistance and feedback.

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team

Ive had the same problems for months now. Got apply to replace the unit first time and since then on/off have had same issues. To me seems more frequent when unit is hot as when i switch off, leave for 5 mins and switch on the units performs better and synchs ok.

However have recently had it loose connection mid way through watching a move and decided enough was enough. It was conencted via wifi beofre and i went and bought a powerline unit so its wired now and performance/synch with itune much better now for 3 days. HOWEVER now i have another problem. After a short period of time the remove seems to fail or should i say the ATV fails to see/respond to the remote as ive proven the remote is OK. The only way to get ATV to resond is a rest. And after a while it fails again.

Ive only had ATV for 4months now. Shame as I love the experience when it works just a shame if so poorley managed by Apple.

WATCH this space as I will soon be creating a youtube video of the destruction of my ATV unless i get this resolve in the next week.

simon

Your new issue sounds more like you need a new battery in the remote.

If you bought your ATV new, it would be pretty odd. If you bought it used, that would make it more plausible.

Anyway, it is easy to replace the battery. Just use a pen to press the little hole on the bottom and the battery cage will open. A CR2032 3V is the replacement.

I spent much time and gnashing of teeth, enabling port 3689 in Norton firewall, then Windows Firewall, then disabling all firewalls AND didn't fix the problem. I saw a post somewhere else and followed their advice. Unplug the AppleTV and disconnect the ethernet cable for 30 seconds or so. Reconnect, plug back in. Voila - no more annoying, can't sync because of port 3680 and yoru firewall software.

I have had my Apple TV since about a month before they released the 160 GB Apple TV and I have had basically no issues, besides needing to pull the plug and reset it once every few months when it won't let me stream from my iTunes Library.

Then last night, all of the sudden I started getting these Port 3689 error messages and any attempts at reseting the ATV, router, iTunes and computer did nothing to fix the issue. I tried resetting the settings of the ATV as well as a couple of factory resets and they did not help either. I also tried NoobProof as some others had mentioned and that did not work either.

When I came online and started looking for info last night, I was very disappointed to see posts with this same issue as far back as two years ago! I mean seriously?! I've been an Apple user and stock holder since 2001. I have turned many friends and family onto their products, but it seems to me that the Apple TV is the best product that they don't support or improve. I hope that the next generation Apple TV is right around the corner and that when it comes there are a lot of improvements on a hardware and software level.

Having said that, I am using an ATV that is hard wired with an ethernet cable directly into the Apple Airport Extreme (802.11 a/b/g) router. Nothing has changed with my ATV or computer setup in almost a year, which is why having this error occur out of the blue is a big deal. I literally worked on it from 10:45 pm to 2:15 am last night and made no progress. The strangest thing is that my Internet connection will work fine, then once I open iTunes and try to sync the Apple TV, it will knock out my Internet connection so I do not have any Internet....then when I go to network diagnostics, it says everything is working fine. Occasionally it will show that the Internet and Server lights are yellow and not green, but then when I click next to move forward, it shows all lights are green and the web browser starts loading again. Directly following this, I try to sync the ATV again and again, the Internet connection goes down. Please help us Apple!!

I decided to post an update in case anyone else out there has been having a similar issue. After much time spent trying everything I knew to do, I went ahead and reset the computers PRAM and setup my entire home network again from scratch, I even named the network a different name just to be safe. Presto! Everything works like a charm now.

I'm not sure why it seemed to happen all of the sudden, but it may or may not be related to some changes I made on my home network about 3 weeks ago. Here is a brief description of how the network is connected.

_Main Airport Extreme_
-Internet connection is wired via ethernet to cable modem
-one ethernet port is wired to my DVD player & media server
-one ethernet port is wired to my Apple TV
-one ethernet port is wired to my main Xbox 360

_Upstairs Airport Express (remote)_
-set up as remote to make main signal stronger (main airport extreme is in the media closet in the garage)
-USB cable wired to printer for wireless print sharing

_Downstairs Airport Express (remote)_
-ethernet port is wired to secondary Xbox 360 for Internet game & audio/video streaming use (this Xbox was added to the network about 3 weeks ago)

I am unsure if adding the second Xbox 360 was what messed up the system, because everything worked find for two weeks after I hooked it up, then one day I started getting the error messages. I think reseting the network and starting from scratch may be the best option for someone else with a similar setup.

Same 3698 error here. Running the latest iTunes on Vista. NO firewalls are enabled yet I get this error message. Cannot enable Windows Firewall for some reason...Windows will not let me. AppleTV is updated. Went through most of the possible solutions here to no avail. Have tried connecting hardwired and wireless into the network with the Vista machine. Itunes DOES recognize the AppleTV however as it shows up in the device list.

So I tried another Vista machine and no problems. Must be a problem with the aformentioned Vista computer??

I am having a problem playing Theatrical movie trailers in front row and in itunes (pop out trailer windows are just black). I am also unable to view them on my apple tv, which means I can't view prior to purchasing.
The weird thing is if I go to www.apple.com/trailer I am able to view certain ones there.
Normally they work fine! I have recently set up a new BT Home Hub 2.0 I think that is possibly when the problem began.
Any one with similar problems or advice please help.

It may be a problem with hard drive fragmentation. After cleaning up my home network settings, I am no longer getting the Port 3689 error message, but I was still unable to stream any video at all. I could sync video properly about 95% of the time and the synced video played fine, but no streaming video.

Last week I did a defrag on my hard drives and did a file optimization and volume optimization as well. My iTunes library is 1.5TB of a 2TB drive, so there is quite a bit of info on the drive and it was very fragmented after about 10 months of consistent use. Ever since I did the defrag/optimize on my all hard drives, everything has been streaming and syncing fine with the Apple TV.

Not sure if it's working because of the defrag/optimize or if it's just a wild coincidence, but I thought it would be worth mentioning just in case it can help someone else fix their problem!